The age of wonder & Sir Joseph Banks

I am reading a great book (see below) on the age of Romantic science, sometimes called erroneously the "second" scientific revolution (the "first one" was not a revolution, either, but a centuries long evolution). This period, which really has never ended, was personified by the great Sir Joseph Banks, who voyaged with Cook to Tahiti and was subsequently president of the Royal Society for decades. Banks was an exuberant patron of and practitioner of science. Primarily a botanist, he was personally responsible for assembling the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, which Janis and I have visited and which remain a world-class example of its kind. He was an intimate of Britain's king, George III, who gets a bad rap for his lack of colonial gumption (thankfully) but who was a knowledgeable patron of science as well.
Banks was exhilaratingly progressive and unconventional, sponsoring and encouraging little known scientists who subsequently became legends. An outstanding example of this was his promotion of William Herschel, who discovered the planet Uranus and, with his equally talented sister Caroline, turned astronomy into the science that has evolved into the modern and highly productive area of cosmology. Banks was also an enthusiastic supporter of ballooning, man's first successful method of flight.
Banks was independently wealthy and shared his wealth through his scientific sponsorships. In my view he did more than Newton or Einstein for the scientific endeavor and is my personal hero of scientific literacy. Here's to you, Joe!